He thought it was just a formality, being viewed by her stepmother - he was told she'd need her permission to marry her, and he did what he was told as it was. Already a slave to his wife-to-be, his vision of a homely older woman soon evaporates - along with what little liberty he had left.
A mother and her young daughter live on and off the street for years, only to be "rescued" by a man with means who slowly breaks the mother down before turning his eyes on the daughter.